Joe Paterno had to leave immediately

Joe Paterno watched his final practice as Penn State's coach on Wednesday. (The Associated Press)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Even to the end, Joe Paterno thought he still called the shots. He thought after the massive failure of moral leadership at Penn State that he could still leave on his terms -- after the season -- rather than right now.

The failure by the adults in the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse was unfathomable. They all had to go immediately.

That included Paterno, who was forced out late Wednesday night by the Board of Trustees hours after he arrogantly said in a statement the board "should not spend a single minute discussing my status." Penn State President Graham Spanier is also out as he should be.

If there was any question about how this horrific scandal brought on by Sandusky didn't see the light of day for so long, look at the reaction Wednesday night.

Jon Solomon is a columnist for The Birmingham News. Join him for live web chats on college sports on Wednesdays at 2 p.m.

Look at the Penn State students who took to the streets after the decision to angrily protest. Look at the tone of the news conference with trustee John Surma, who deftly handled embarrassingly hostile questions that were essentially about a football coach, not the alleged crimes against helpless victims.

I've never seen a news conference like that in my life. It was as if every question was asked by a Penn State student or supporter, which may in fact have been the case.

How did this happen? Paterno became a god. Let this be a lesson to everyone in college football: No matter how many games a coach wins, he shouldn't be put on a pedestal.

The myth-making had to stop. Paterno has raised money, graduated players and done wonderful things. But it was inconceivable to think he or anyone else linked in the scandal could stay another day longer.

Penn State's board of trustees became the first adults in the room this week. They stopped thinking about football and began cleaning up this mess on the day the U.S. Department of Education announced it would investigate Penn State's handling of the allegations.

This isn't about Paterno. This is about kids, too many of them, living with unimaginable horrors and adults failing them.

We don't even know yet how many kids. According to Fox 29 in Philadelphia, the number of Sanduksy's alleged victims now approaches 20, up from eight when he was arrested Saturday.

This isn't all on Paterno. They all passed the buck, from the graduate assistant to the athletic director, from the senior vice president to the president.

"This is a tragedy," Paterno said earlier Wednesday. "It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

Hindsight? Read the sickening grand jury report and it's devastating to see the number of missed chances to stop the alleged abuse and prevent other kids from getting hurt.

It's hard not to conclude that protecting Paterno's image and the win-at-all-costs mentality of college football resulted in Penn State turning a blind eye.

Most disturbing is Mike McQueary's testimony that as a graduate assistant in 2002 he saw a naked Sandusky sexually abuse a young boy in the showers of the Penn State locker room. After talking with his father, McQueary told Paterno the next day.

In what delusional world does McQueary live in that he opts to tell a football coach of a crime rather than police? Better yet, how about stopping the alleged rape?

The rest becomes semantics. Paterno testified that McQueary said that Sandusky was engaged in fondling or "doing something of a sexual nature" to a boy, and Paterno reported it to his athletics director, Tim Curley.

Curley denied in testimony that McQueary later told him there was sexual activity and described the conduct as "horsing around." Senior Vice President Gary Schultz testified that McQueary's allegations "were not that serious" but conceded they involved inappropriate sexual conduct.

Schultz oversaw the police department yet never reported the incident to authorities. No one did.

And Paterno wanted one last round of adulation?

Nobody who knew the accusations could continue to officially represent Penn State again. Especially not in front of 100,000 fans on Saturday.

Not when worshipping football and Paterno appears to have allowed unthinkable numbers of children to have become victims.

Write Jon at jsolomon@bhamnews.com. Follow him at twitter.com/jonsol.

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